Land And Water Officer (Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6.4)

Organizational Setting

FAO's Land and Water Division (NSL) foresees a future whereby governments, development partners, civil society, academic institutions, and the private sector and farmers, all work together to ensure that land, soil, and water resources are wisely used, conserved, and restored for sustainable and resilient agrifood systems that support food security, nutrition, and human wellbeing.

NSL provides policy guidance, technical and financial assistance to Members in developing policies, programmes, best practices and management tools for ensuring productive and efficient use of land, soil and water resources to meet present and future demands for agricultural products, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of these resources. It promotes equitable access to and sustainable management of these natural resources with a view to enhancing productivity, livelihoods, equity, health and ecosystem services.

Under the FAO Conceptual Framework for Integrated Land and Water Resources Management, NSL works towards a core set of five integrated and strategic Objectives and Action Areas that have been elaborated to cut across the thematic land, water, soils, and geospatial areas of work of the Division\: (1) Good Governance; (2) Wise use and restoration; (3) Mitigation and resilience; (4) Integrated solutions; (5) Data, digitalization, technology and innovation.

The post is located in the Water Unit of Land and Water Division (NSL) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines

The Land and Water Officer (Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6.4)reports to the Senior Land and Water Officer (Water Information and Assessments), NSL.

Technical Focus

Water policy, water resources planning, water governance in relation to the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

The incumbent will contribute to the implementation of the project GCP/GLO/1281/CPR “National Water Roadmap towards 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” supporting that the outputs and products are delivered as described in the project's results framework.

Key Results

Research, technical analysis and project related services to support the delivery of programme projects, products and services.

Key Functions

• Researches and analyses technical, social, economic, environmental, institutional, and technology related information, data and statistics and/or related policy issues to support the delivery of programme projects, products and services.
• Produces a variety of technical information, data, statistics and reports as well as input for technical documents and web pages.
• Provides technical support/analysis to various assessments, studies and initiatives and provides technical backstopping to field projects.
• Collaborates in the development of improved/updated tools, systems, processes and databases.
• Participates in multidisciplinary teams, and/or leads working groups/teams collaborates with other Divisions, Offices and Centres on work groups and committees and promotes best practices.
• Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development activities within Members such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials and on-line tools.
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations.
• Supports resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Specific Functions

• Provides technical expertise for the development and application of methodologies to spatially and temporally disaggregate SDG indicator 6.4.2 (level of water stress) by river basin.
• Contributes to the development, application, and improvement of tools for assessing Environmental Flow Requirements (EFR) at global, national and river basin levels.
• Provides technical guidance to national project coordinators and consultants in conducting water accounting, EFR assessments and the computation of the SDG 6.4 indicators.
• Contributes to the planning, design and organization of internal and external technical meetings with relevant institutions to share experiences, promote collaboration and enhance the visibility of project outcomes.
• Supports the establishment of relationships with project stakeholders, including government agencies and relevant organizations.
• Supports the technical coordination of project activities.
• Supports the collection and analysis of data collected for SDG 6.4.1 and 6.4.2.
• Contributes to the preparation of project publications and reports.
• Contributes to the development of geospatial analysis and products within AQUASTAT.
• Supports the implementation, promotion and dissemination of Integrated Water Resources Management, with a focus on enhancing land and water productivity.
• Performs other duties as required.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in agriculture, hydrology, water resources governance, natural resources management, environment, or related field.
• Five years of relevant experience in water resources assessment, water accounting and auditing, water productivity, and environmental flow assessments with proven record of project coordination.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions.
• Extent and relevance of experience in remote sensing and geospatial applications to land and water resources assessment and management.
• Extent and relevance of experience in monitoring SDG 6 indicators, with particular focus on SDG target 6.4.
• Familiarity with relevant techniques and experience related to water resources assessments in general, and water stress and environmental flows in particular.
• Demonstrated results-based management capabilities with an ability to coordinate programmes efficiently under shifting priorities.
• Extent and relevance of experience in coordinating international projects and relevant partnerships.
• Extent and relevance of experience in organizing international meetings, seminars and training courses.
• Capacity to consolidate and synthesize information in reports and presentations while ensuring quality.
• Demonstrated capabilities in delivering good quality results in time.
• Demonstrated capacity to write comprehensive technical reports on water resources assessments in English.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams.
• Working knowledge (proficiency – level C) of French is desirable.